Deputy Mattie McGrath, leader of the Rural Independent Group is critical of the performance of the Department of Agriculture for what he calls ‘inefficient, unacceptable, and avoidable delays in farm payments.’
Deputy McGrath highlights that “thousands of farmers are still waiting for Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) balancing payments”.
Deputy McGrath says this is neither fair nor reasonable as farmers have already incurred the expenditure and especially at a time “when farmers’ incomes are already under pressure.”
The Tipperary TD wants Minister McConalogue to intervene to ensure that there are no delays in the next round of payments and adds that it is unacceptable that “8,636 farmers are still awaiting balancing payments for their participation in ACRES in 2023.”
“Minister McConalogue promised farmers up to €10,500 annually for the five years of the ACRES scheme” but delays in processing could see farmers in year two or year three before their first payment is finalised according to Deputy McGrath who also complains of the scoring methods especially as applied to commonages.
